Intentions to Marry, 1915 Kaikoura to Rakaia

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840461, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1915 is bound in six volumes (a to f) with continuous page numbers. Each volume contains a different set of districts, going from north to south.

1915e contains pages 1973-2618, covering districts from Kaikoura to Rakaia

Page 2199

District of Grey Quarter ending 31 December 1915 Registrar E. Cave

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

13 November 1915

Henry Patterson
Angelica Alberta Janet Thomson

Henry Patterson
Angelica Alberta Janet Thomson
💍 1915/7504

Bachelor
Spinster

Telegraphist
Telephone Exchange Cadet

26
23

Otira Greymouth
Dobson Greymouth

6 months 3 days
5 years 3 days

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

9978

13 November 1915

Rev. J. A. Rogers

No	60
Date of Notice	13 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Patterson	Angelica Alberta Janet Thomson
	💍 1915/7504
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Telegraphist	Telephone Exchange Cadet
Age	26	23
Dwelling Place	Otira Greymouth	Dobson Greymouth
Length of Residence	6 months 3 days	5 years 3 days
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	9978
Consent
Date of Certificate	13 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Rogers

16 November 1915

William Kennedy
Ethel Kendrick

William Kennedy
Ethel Kendrick
💍 1915/7548

Bachelor
Spinster

Miner
Domestic

34
37

Rewanui
Runanga

12 years
12 months

St. Patricks Church, Greymouth

10006

16 November 1915

Dean S. P. Carew

No	61
Date of Notice	16 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Kennedy	Ethel Kendrick
	💍 1915/7548
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Miner	Domestic
Age	34	37
Dwelling Place	Rewanui	Runanga
Length of Residence	12 years	12 months
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Church, Greymouth
Folio	10006
Consent
Date of Certificate	16 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Dean S. P. Carew

20 November 1915

Joseph Peter Packer
Mary Elizabeth Kennedy

Joseph Peter Packer
Mary Elizabeth Kennedy
💍 1915/7547

Bachelor
Spinster

Engine Driver
Domestic

33
25

Cobden
Greymouth

8 years
7 years

St. Patricks Church, Greymouth

10005

20 November 1915

Dean S. P. Carew

No	62
Date of Notice	20 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Joseph Peter Packer	Mary Elizabeth Kennedy
	💍 1915/7547
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engine Driver	Domestic
Age	33	25
Dwelling Place	Cobden	Greymouth
Length of Residence	8 years	7 years
Marriage Place	St. Patricks Church, Greymouth
Folio	10005
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Dean S. P. Carew

22 November 1915

Cyril Robert Cockburn
Mabel Ellen Cust

Cyril Robert Cockburn
Mabel Ellen Cust
💍 1915/7505

Bachelor
Spinster

Battery hand
Domestic

27
21

Waiuta Greymouth
Runanga

2 1/2 years 3 days
17 years

Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth

9979

22 November 1915

Rev. J. A. Rogers

No	63
Date of Notice	22 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Cyril Robert Cockburn	Mabel Ellen Cust
	💍 1915/7505
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Battery hand	Domestic
Age	27	21
Dwelling Place	Waiuta Greymouth	Runanga
Length of Residence	2 1/2 years 3 days	17 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Greymouth
Folio	9979
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Rogers

29 November 1915

Frederick Lovell Turley
Minnie Mary Armstrong

Frederick Livell Turley
Minnie Mary Armstrong
💍 1915/14708

Bachelor
Widow

Commission Agent
Board-Keeper

27
23

Greymouth
Greymouth

6 months
5 days

In Sherlock's Private Residence, Cobden

9510

29 November 1915

Rev. William Trotter

No	64
Date of Notice	29 November 1915
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frederick Lovell Turley	Minnie Mary Armstrong
BDM Match (98%)	Frederick Livell Turley	Minnie Mary Armstrong
	💍 1915/14708
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Commission Agent	Board-Keeper
Age	27	23
Dwelling Place	Greymouth	Greymouth
Length of Residence	6 months	5 days
Marriage Place	In Sherlock's Private Residence, Cobden
Folio	9510
Consent
Date of Certificate	29 November 1915
Officiating Minister	Rev. William Trotter

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).